How to Coach Yourself and Others Techniques For Coaching | Page 59

listener. A better sequence of statements would be: “I got
confused in your presentation to the grantee. I was not clear
what the presentation was meant to accomplish. A
statement about that at the beginning would have helped us
all focus on the information you presented.”
3. Be direct, clear, and to the point.
In many cultures, it is considered more polite and educated
to not be direct. But in the case of feedback, since the
objective is to communicate clearly and specifically, and not
leave someone guessing, we encourage people to be direct
but in polite way.
4. Direct feedback toward controllable behavior.
Inquire before critiquing. If an employee is continually late
to work, perhaps s/he has a childcare situation that causes
this. Discussing the cause and the alternatives to meet
everyone’s expectations and needs would be a more
constructive approach than simply criticizing the employee’s
behavior. Avoid criticizing a participant’s physical
characteristics. To say, “You are too short to be seen in the
back of the room,” without giving or exploring with him/her
some suggestions (about room arrangement, for example), is
not very helpful.
5. Feedback should be solicited, rather than imposed.
If a collaborative work environment is present with
employees or volunteers, feedback should be expected and
welcomed. It should include positive feedback on good
performance to reinforce what is being done correctly or
better. Feedback that helps improve performance is critical

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